What Happened?
Altamonte Springs, Florida, is launching a water conservation project to preserve resources for irrigation purposes. The conservation effort aims to convert 4.5 million gallons of runoff water daily into reclaimed water sources for irrigation. Separately, more than 45 water agencies in California are enforcing water restrictions by employing residents to enforce the mandates.
The Goal
The water conservation plan is a $13 million project working to reduce the amount of pollutants and harmful nutrients flowing into the Little Wekiva and Wekiva rivers. These water sources feed into local waterways that provide drinking water to residents.
Altamonte Springs, just outside of Orlando, as well as neighboring cities in the region, will be benefit from the water conservation effort. Altamonte Springs will deploy resources to turn runoff water into clean water suitable for irrigation that can be accessed by nearby municipalities such as Apopka, which in turn will store the reclaimed water for irrigation.
In addition, a $2.3 billion overhaul of Interstate 4 is planned to go into effect next year, which would require the Florida Department of Transportation to build a retention pond to hold and treat storm water. With the new conservation effort in place, Florida’s DOT will be relieved of that duty.
Furthermore, the conversion of runoff water into irrigation resources will allow Altamonte Springs and other nearby cities to tap into a new source of converted water supplies, and withdrawals from the Florida Aquifer will also be reduced.
How It Will Work
The water conservation project calls for rainwater to be collected from Interstate 4, treated for pollutants and contaminants, and then distributed to homeowners for lawn irrigation. When it rains near Interstate 4, the water will be directed to Cranes Roost lake and pumped into a water treatment plant nearby. There pollutants and harmful nutrients such as phosphorous and nitrogen will be removed and the water will be passed on to residents. The project is expected to be up and running within the next 18 months
Laying Down The Law
While some California cities are conserving their water reserves by making it more expensive to use it, Sacramento is aggressively patrolling neighborhoods riddled with unmetered homes. About 40 residents were hired to patrol communities, report on water waste and respond to violators. The city is also calling upon residents to report on their neighbors when violations occur. After three months of launching the patrol system, Sacramento has generated 3,245 water waste complaints compared to just 183 last year, the AP reported.
In Los Angeles, on the other hand, a smaller, less aggressive water-enforcement program has been in place since 2009 and reduced water use by 18 percent. The city hired one full-time water waste inspector to patrol streets, but may have to add an additional three inspectors this year as water supplies continue to dwindle. Los Angeles officials plan to keep their patrols more inconspicuous than those in Sacramento, providing helpful reminders to residents rather than enforcing the law with strict fines.
Don’t Forget Quality
California may be struggling to maintain water levels, but many areas of the country are also concerned about the quality of the water available. As a result, the U.S. Department of Agriculture teamed up with a nonprofit to create a new metric in its calculator to help farmers determine the quality of their water before using it.
The metric has been added to the USDA’s Fieldprint Calculator tool that will determine the quality of water based on the Natural Resources Conservation Service’s Water Quality Index for Agricultural Runoff. Farmers input specific data to calculate the impact on water quality, as tainted water can have an effect on crops as well as nearby water sources. Because so many different data points are entered into the calculator, the tool is able to provide a complete picture of the water quality and the components impacting it directly. Then farmers are can take this information and make adjustments to their practices to improve the quality rating.
Precious Water Sources
Gov1 has kept a close eye on water conservation projects that range from limiting residential use to overhauling faulty stormwater systems.